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Wow, great find! I've been looking forward to seeing these, and I'm glad someone salvaged some pics after BZP's news database went down. Overall, there's some nice details in the new pieces this year, and the set design is pretty good. It does seem like Lego is trying to force in some more functions, which I have mixed opinions on, but they've got some good ones like Dragon Bolt's wing design. Individually:

Stormer: I think I'll have to get him, out of all the heroes. Awesome new armor piece, and I love the head and shield designs. The flick-fire missiles are a bit of a negative, but I'll probably just throw those out.

Frost Beast: In the commercial, this guy looked awesome. In a set, he looks like an over-excited puppy left in the snow too long. His face looks ridiculous, but all the trans-light-blue looks nice, and he also has those awesome new armor pieces. It does appear he has a custom body with some nice pieces though, so he isn't all bad. That sword is also pretty cool. It's nice that Lego added some red other than the eyes too. I really like red and white together.

Surge: That head really bugs me. Combine that with strangely trans-armored arms and a ridiculous weapon make me want to skip this set. As cool as the jetpack is, especially with those new pieces, I'll pass.

Dragon Bolt: I'm really glad you put together that .lxf file, Aanchir, because all the images I've seen of Dragon Bolt make him look completely disproportionate. Now that I can actually see him, he doesn't look half bad. The function looks cool, and I've been looking for some blue armor and joint extenders. He looks lie he has a lot of useful pieces, so I may have to pick him up. The brain slug is also really cool, with the blue/yellow blend and white eyes.

Evo: Not a bad hero. The helmet looks pretty good, and I like his spear, but that orange spike in the spear is rather odd, and his dagger seems kind of redundant. If I get him, I'll just switch out the spikes and put the orange one somewhere else. I also really wish he had more trans-blue, but that's what I'm getting Stormer for. One thing that really bugs me about him is how he, like many of the Brain Attack Heroes, has only one shoulder armor piece. That makes it really difficult to make HF MOCs when you have an odd number of those and you assume you have one more.

Aquagon: I get the whole dragon thing now. DR - AGON, AQU - AGON. Strange connection, but I can see it. The face is really creepy, but I love the brain slug and trans-blue. If I do pick him up, it's for the trans-blue and yellow arms. They both seem pretty handy.

Jet Rocka: Well, I guess I'm in the minority when I say this guy isn't too bad. Sure it isn't as streamlined as Lego's done in the past, but he still looks pretty awesome. From what I remember from the BZP report on this, the function is pretty cool. He's got some nice looking pieces and a cool function, but he's a bit pricey for what I allow for HF. I'm definitely getting some Chima later, so I'm saving up for that.

By the way, are any of these heads different colors from the trans-green we got with the first wave? That might be a deciding factor for me. I would really like a blue or yellow one for a MOC I'm working on.

EDIT: By the way, Aanchir, I was seeing if I could put together Jet Rocka in LDD, and I noticed that some of the pieces you were missing on Dragon Bolt were added in in the latest update. You could update your LDD and make a more accurate model.

EDIT #2: I was also looking for more reference pics for Rocka, and guess what I found? The archive of the Toyfair 2013 pictures as taken by BZP! There's more details shots in there, just scroll down to TF13_HF_##.jpg. Don't know why this wasn't posted earlier by staff.

01-08 is the winter wave,

09-12, 42, and teaser are Stormer

13-15 is Aquagon

16-20 is Surge

21-24 is Frost Beast

25-28 is Evo

29-34, 38 is Dragon Bolt

35-37, 39-41 is Jet Rocka

Some others might be a bit out of order, but that's all I saw so far.

Hope that helps a bit.

Edited by Click, Apr 30 2013 - 06:09 PM.

0

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"True strength cannot be mimicked. When the time comes to make the hard decision, your strength or weakness is revealed." - Fang

"H-honor is not t-t-to b-be set aside f-f-for w-when it is needed m-most." - Root

Wow, great find! I've been looking forward to seeing these, and I'm glad someone salvaged some pics after BZP's news database went down. Overall, there's some nice details in the new pieces this year, and the set design is pretty good. It does seem like Lego is trying to force in some more functions, which I have mixed opinions on, but they've got some good ones like Dragon Bolt's wing design. Individually: Stormer: I think I'll have to get him, out of all the heroes. Awesome new armor piece, and I love the head and shield designs. The flick-fire missiles are a bit of a negative, but I'll probably just throw those out.

I don't mind flick-fire missiles myself. What with how small they are, they're hardly ever obtrusive. Here, even if you don't use them as a function, I think back-mounted missiles are a cool-looking detail that helps set him apart from the others. And if you don't want to keep them on the set, they're definitely a great building element, particularly in Hero Factory (some of the Chima constraction sets demonstrate this, using flick-fire missiles to fasten shields onto the holes in the Savage Planet "paw" piece).

Dragon Bolt: I'm really glad you put together that .lxf file, Aanchir, because all the images I've seen of Dragon Bolt make him look completely disproportionate. Now that I can actually see him, he doesn't look half bad. The function looks cool, and I've been looking for some blue armor and joint extenders. He looks lie he has a lot of useful pieces, so I may have to pick him up. The brain slug is also really cool, with the blue/yellow blend and white eyes.

Really Dragon Bolt's brain is just a two-colored blend: transparent light blue (or some transparent blue color, anyway -- it's hard to tell which one) with White Glow, the new glow-in-the-dark color introduced in the Monster Fighters theme. Still, it does make a neat yellow-green color where the two meet. It's great to see White Glow in Hero Factory and I would love to see it used more extensively. Glow-in-the-dark Hero Cores would be pretty awesome, for instance.

Evo: Not a bad hero. The helmet looks pretty good, and I like his spear, but that orange spike in the spear is rather odd, and his dagger seems kind of redundant. If I get him, I'll just switch out the spikes and put the orange one somewhere else. I also really wish he had more trans-blue, but that's what I'm getting Stormer for. One thing that really bugs me about him is how he, like many of the Brain Attack Heroes, has only one shoulder armor piece. That makes it really difficult to make HF MOCs when you have an odd number of those and you assume you have one more.

I dunno, I've found use even for odd numbers of shoulder shells (Kit Martello, my entry in one of this year's BBC contests, used three, though I've since swapped two of those out for the square shoulder shells). I agree it's frustrated with colors that you can't get in other sets, though, like Bulk's Silver Metallic square shell. I was very sad to see that it's not appearing in any more sets this year, but hopefully either 2014 will offer it or it'll be put on Pick-A-Brick.

By the way, are any of these heads different colors from the trans-green we got with the first wave? That might be a deciding factor for me. I would really like a blue or yellow one for a MOC I'm working on.

Well, in the first half of the year there were in fact two colors -- Furno XL had Transparent Fluorescent Green ones, and it's kind of odd none of the other heroes did. I've picked up a few through Pick-A-Brick, though, and in the summer it's used for Dragon Bolt and probably Surge as well.In the second half of the year, Aquagon, Stormer, and Frost Beast all have Transparent Blue heads. That's Bricklink's Trans-Dark Blue, not the Transparent Fluorescent Blue Stormer used previously which is called Trans-Medium Blue on Bricklink. Personally, I'd have preferred Transparent Fluorescent Blue (it's a lot glowier), but Transparent Blue is also nice, especially with shells coming in that color in Surge, Aquagon, and some of the Chima constraction sets. Kind of lame how Evo can't keep a consistent eye color. He's gone from purple (Medium Lilac) to orange (Tr. Fluore. Reddish-Orange) to green (Tr. Bright Green). If they'd colored his eyes blue in 2012, which I'd have preferred for continuity's sake even if the orange eyes looked fine, then they could at least come a bit closer this wave.

EDIT: By the way, Aanchir, I was seeing if I could put together Jet Rocka in LDD, and I noticed that some of the pieces you were missing on Dragon Bolt were added in in the latest update. You could update your LDD and make a more accurate model.

I updated my file as soon as I got the LDD update, but I guess I didn't update it on Brickshelf as well. It's fixed now.

I never thought about using those flick-fire missiles that way. Pretty much the only reasons I don't like them are because they appear in way too many sets, and I can never get them to shoot very far. They do look interesting for aesthetics though.

I didn't realize Furno had a more yellowish head. I might need to get that, or I might just stick with the blue ones I'll undoubtedly get in the summer.

I also finished my Jet Rocka. It wasn't easy, but I think I figured out most of it. The only parts I'm not completely sure are on is how the thrusters are attached (but I'm pretty sure), how the trigger connects to the gear axle (also pretty sure), and what is supposed to go on that random Technic bar sticking out into the cockpit. Probably something to hold Rocka in. Someone else will have to figure out how to get him into the cockpit too.

I was also able to build most of it, although I couldn't get Rocka's shoulder pads to attach or the balls into the launchers. Rocka's shoulder armor should also be the square kind, but that isn't in LDD yet, for some reason. It's surprising how few new pieces Jet Rocka has.

Do any of these sets have those new 3-long joint connectors, previously only seen in Stormer XL? I've been really wanting some of those, but I don't see any.

Nope, no sets this year seem to have any of those as far as I can tell. However, they're on Pick-A-Brick for 30¢ apiece in the category "Figure Parts". I made sure to get several of those during the double VIP points period a couple months ago.

I'm somewhat unimpressed with HF as of late. Wild colors, and the helmets always strike me as ugly somehow. I like parts of each set, like Evo's ax and the double launchers of Jet Rocka, but the rest of the set is bleh.

Stormer looks passable, but the helmet/face still looks awful. And that armor on the shoulders - this looks like Fire armor recolored. Or flowers.